March 02, 2009

Freedom Run Winery 2005 Chardonnay

Freedom Run Winery is a winery in Lockport, NY that you have no-doubt heard of if you're a long-time reader of this blog. Our man on the ground in the Niagara Escarpment has written about them a few times and has even helped out at harvest, in the winery and in the tasting room there.

I, on the other hand, know much less about them. But, as we expand our reach to encompass all of the wines being made in New York, it's important that we include a region that shows such great promise. Maybe we'll even be able to convince Bryan to write more. Maybe?

Anyway, this Freedom Run Winery 2005 Chardonnay ($15) is labeled under the New York State AVA because it is made with fruit sourced from the Chautaqua Lake area in the Lake Erie AVA. As you've read before on this blog, the Escarpment is such a young region that many producers are still waitng for their vines to mature enough to make wine with estate-grown fruit.

The medium golden color of this wine tells you right away that it has spent some time in oak and the nose backs that up with aromas of roasted pear and apple, butter and vanilla.

This medium-bodied wine has nice spice flavors -- think baking spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. There is some of that pear-apple character, but not quite enough to stand up to the significant barrel-born flavors of vanilla, oak and buttered corn. The finish is medium-long and dry, with a light tingle of acidity, but also a raw oak note that was a bit off-putting.

Lovers of barrel chardonnay could do far worse because of this wine's acidity and delicious spice component, but it also shows many of the characteristics that card-carrying members of Anything But Chardonnay dislike so much.

Producer:Freedom Run WineryAVA: New YorkPrice: $15ABV: 12.4%Rating: (2 out of 5 | Average)